By: Tyler Miller
SPOILERS FOR SEASON 6, EPISODE 9 OF THE WALKING DEAD. DON’T READ THIS UNTIL YOU HAVE SEEN THE EPISODE.
Boy oh boy, what an episode that was! Last night The Walking Dead came back from its midseason break with a bang with an episode that was intense, exciting, bloody, and horrifying, and the wait was certainly worth it.
When we last left our band of survivors, the town of Alexandria was filled with walkers and our characters were all split up in different houses. Carol and Morgan were unconscious, the Wolf captive had made off with Denise, and Rick’s group (consisting of Carl, Michonne, Jessie, her two annoying sons Ron and Sam, Father Gabriel, and Judith) covering themselves in walker guts so they could walk through the crowd to the armory. In all honesty, the midseason finale was a bit of a disappointment as it was all building up to this moment and it left us on a cliffhanger for months, but last night more than made up for it.
Instead of thrusting us right back into the fray, the episode started with Daryl, Abraham, and Sasha encountering a group of Saviors on the road back to Alexandria who demand all of their stuff, saying that it now belongs to Negan. Although I knew that our heroes would make it out of this scene alive, I was still on edge as to how things would go down. The leader of the group constantly shifting between being serious and joking around left me not knowing what exactly he would do. But when you have Daryl and an RPG, all your problems just go away in one big explosions.
As a reader of the comics, this scene excited me a bit more than it probably should have, simply because I know what Negan does and all of these little teases are getting more and more excited for his arrival in the season finale. Someone is going to have a “date” with Lucille and it will be interesting to see who it is.
We’re then brought back to Alexandria where Rick’s group is making their way through the walkers in a long chain, and things are going pretty well for them. The group stops for a moment as Rick changes the plan to go to the armory, instead deciding it’s better to get in vehicles and lead the walkers away and back to the quarry they came from. Father Gabriel actually stepped up and decided to take Judith with him to his church so she would be safe. This was great to see from him, as he’s been a coward since we met him last season and he threw Rick’s group under the bus to save himself. And he actually kept her safe too! Good job Gabriel!
What followed was just a bit of checking in on the other groups that holed up in the houses. Tara, Rosita, Eugene, Morgan, and Carol were all gathering themselves, with Rosita declaring that it’s best to just wait for things to ease up outside before trying to save anyone. This was a good moment for her, seeing as how she doesn’t get many lines in the show. Glenn and Enid made their way to a church and came up with a game plan to save Maggie. Lastly, we see Denise and the Wolf leader hiding outside nearby a tower that will get them out of the town.
The next thing we know it’s night time and Rick’s group is still trying to get out of the town. This is the one aspect of the episode that threw me off in a big way. When we last saw everyone it was clearly still daytime with plenty of sunlight left. This jump to nighttime so quickly with everyone in the same place we left them was really jarring, and the one thing in the episode that I really did not like.
Nevertheless though, we finally get to the BIG moment of the episode, and the one that’s going to have everyone talking for a while. While they’re walking through the walkers, Sam starts thinking about what Carol said to him in Season 5 about how he’ll be eaten alive by the walkers and freezes (Damnit Sam!!). Everyone is trying to get him to move and then it happens. He gets bit by two walkers and goes down, and Jessie screams in horror. She then gets bit and Rick just watches in horror and freezes for a moment himself as his new (hopeful) girlfriend dies in front of him. Carl is still latched onto her though and is about to die next, when Rick snaps out of it and hacks her arm off to save his son. Carl drops his gun and Ron picks it up, ready to kill Rick out of pure rage and anger. I mean, he just watched the rest of his family die in front of him, and it is kind of Rick’s fault, so who can blame Ron for being mad this time? Then comes Michonne to the rescue, killing Ron (goodbye annoying brothers!) whose gun discharges.
Unfortunately it hit Carl in the eye, and boy is it not a pretty sight. Although I saw this coming, seeing it on screen was just absolutely horrifying, with his reaction, the effects (the effects team deserves a lot of credit), and Rick’s reaction all coming together. As a comic reader, seeing Carl turn around with the hole in is eye was a moment that I had been waiting for ever since this season started. I was both equal parts excited and terrified because of the effect it has on Carl. This marks a major change in his character from here on out, so I wanted it to happen. At the same time, I’ve grown to like Carl a lot since the Season 4 and I didn’t want anything to happen to him.
Moving on though, Carol killed the Wolf! She finally got to do what she wanted to do, although it’ll be interesting to see if Denise tells her that the Wolf actually saved her from the walkers. That’ll give Morgan’s beliefs more weight with her and the group, as it appeared the Wolf was really changing. It was also good to see Denise step up immediately to save Carl and not back down.
Rick filled with the fury of the gods walked out into the street on his own with nothing but a hatchet and started taking down walkers one by one like a true badass. This then led to all of our separate groups coming out of their houses to help save their town. Even people we wouldn’t have expected it from like Gabriel and Eugene! As Eugene says, “No one gets to clock out today. And hell, this is a story people are gonna tell.” This whole moment was exciting and had me cheering for the whole cast. Finally the Alexandrians and Rick’s group have come together and are united, putting aside their differences and any bad blood to save their town.
Interspersed between all of this action we see Glenn and Enid trying to save Maggie, who’s tower is about to come crashing down into the horde of walkers below her. Yet again, Glenn almost died, and for a moment I actually thought it was going to happen. But then here comes Sasha & Abraham to save the day! And that RPG certainly comes in handy again with Daryl using it and the gas from the fuel truck to light the lake on fire, drawing the walkers to it.
With that the fight is over and the battle is won. Our heroes own Alexandria. The episode ends on what is probably the best moment of the episode, with Rick talking to Carl who is unconscious. Rick tells him that he was wrong about the Alexandrians; that they can survive in this world although they’ve been behind the walls for so long, and that they can all work together. Rick finally feels hope again, and it’s a particularly heartfelt moment seeing him break down and beg Carl to stay with him so that he can show him the new world. All this culminates in Carl squeezing his dad’s hand, giving him the last bit of hope that he needs.
A few other thoughts:
- It’s a bit odd that the midseason finale ended with Sam freaking out and calling for his mom, but he’s calm at the start of this one. It’s obvious he’s still scared out of his mind by the look on his face, but he is nowhere near as freaked out as he was before.
- The shot at the end of the walker slaughter that gave each character their own spotlight was cool at first, but a bit cheesy as the camera spun around of them. It reminded me of Uwe Boll’s House of the Dead.
- Daryl, Sasha, and Abraham’s encounter with the Saviors is definitely going to come back to them, and not in a good way. It’s looking more and more likely that Daryl will have a bad encounter with Negan in the season finale.
All in all, this was a great episode for The Walking Dead and, in my opinion, is one of the best episodes of the series to date. It looks like we’ll be getting a time jump next week, but how much of a jump is anyone’s guess. Maybe we’ll see Carl up and running next week? It’ll be interesting to see how he is after this traumatic experience. Next week may also see the introduction of comic character Paul Monroe (A.K.A. Jesus). Things are off to a great start for the back half of the season. Let’s see if the rest of the season continues going the same way.
TheComfySpot 